Jehanne d’ Orliac and Geneviève Dehelly
Intrigued by the neglected home in Amboise* of the once famous writer Jehanne/Joan Orliac, we went in search for her grave and for the once famous Golden Gates which stood next to her house.
The Gates didn’t travel far from Château Chanteloup, they did not fall far from the tree as the saying goes, they now adorn the lovely Château Jallanges in Vouvray where they have been since 1946. Although no longer golden they are still very impressive.
The Château Chanteloup gates installed at Château Jallanges
As for Joan, she is even more forgotten than we realised. Not only is her home, the home she left to the town neglected, so is her memorial.
Resting place of Jehanne d’ Orliac in the old cemetery in rue des Ursulines, Amboise.
Almost hidden by moss, three other names besides Joan’s are carved into the stone.
They are: Joan’s mother, Madame Cécile d’Orliac who died in 1943. Madame Nelly Dehelly, mother of Joan’s soulmate, Geneviève Dehelly joined Joan’s mother in 1949.
Awarded first prize for piano from the Paris Conservatory in 1903, the young virtuoso Geneviève, who had a dazzling career, is now also forgotten.
Born two years apart, when she and Joan met in Paris in the 1920s it was the most important encounter of their lives. Artistic love at first sight, there was an instant mutual attraction and recognition of each other’s talents. Joan had found her alter ego.
She had always been interested in the connection between poetry and music so it was natural the two joined forces. These two highly gifted women who spent their lives in the service of art divided their time between Paris and Amboise.
They held successful poetry/musical concerts in France and Belgium. When the first ‘Mozart, Chopin, Debussy’ concert was held in 1929 in Chartres, Châteauroux, Blois and Paris, Joan was dubbed ‘the living soul of poetry’, Genevieve ‘the living soul of music’.
Remains of Joan’s home in Amboise
Their last concert in 1935 which was held for close friends at Joan’s home, signalled the end of their brief intense collaboration.
Joan kept writing till the end of her life. Geneviève trained numerous pianists. She died in 1970. Joan followed her four years later.
Not all is lost. There is a road named Geneviève Dehelly in Saint Martin le Beau and one named Jehanne d’ Orliac in Amboise.
As Jehanne said: Nothing is lost if only one heart knows how to remember.
* Follow this link to see our previous post on Joan Orliac and her Amboise home.
Post by Pamela Shields, photography by Mark Playle
